Ascendance of a Demon
by PiFace314
Summary: This is a tale of bravery, of angst, a tale of dashing men and beautiful women, but most of all, it is a tale of how one young man managed to find life, love, and most importantly himself. His name? Kenpachi Zaraki the second.
1. Prologue

Hi everybody! This story is gonna be a lot more serious than my other works, but it's going to be my first long-running Bleach story with a plotline! Please, please review everyone. BTW, this is just the intro for what is to come!

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"No! You can't die!"

Unohana was in tears. The man she loved, the man who had spent his entire life fighting and killing those who got in his way, was now reduced to a bleeding wreck. What's worse was that with her own medical knowledge, she could tell who could be saved and who couldn't, and it was obvious now that Kenpachi couldn't be saved. But she didn't want to let him go.

"R-Retsu…" he muttered. She drew closer to him, as his breathing became more forced. " I gave that…bastard Aizen an… ass-kickin', huh? Too bad he ain't dead yet…" She nodded, too sad too speak. Kenpachi gave a sudden frown. "Eh? What're you doing, crying like that? C'mon give us a… smile, okay?" Retsu smiled, if only to indulge him. "Where's Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumi?"

Yachiru ran into the room crying, with a tearful Yumichika trying and failing to console the heartbroken girl. Even Ikkaku, who considered himself extremely manly, started to shed tears at the sight of his dying captain. "Ken-chan! Please, don't go! Everyone's crying! You can't die yet!Pleasepleaseplease don't go! It's not right!" Now Yachiru seemed to be going half mad as everyone kept crying.

"Ah! That's it! All of you! Stop whining or else I'll-" The man who had been so angry and frustrated just a second earlier dissolved into a coughing fit, which just made everybody sob more. "Kenpachi, please, you can't…. can't go yet. I am with child."

Everybody just stared at Unohana at that point. Then, Kenpachi just laughed. It was more like a cackle, really. "Ah! So all that hard work paid off, huh?" Retsu nodded, and blushed because, well, it seemed like the right thing to do. But then everything became serious again. "Retsu… this child will need a father. I grew up without parents, and I don't want that to happen to the boy. You can go marry Ukitake, it'll be fine, but please, make sure that this kid has two parents."

She shook her head. "This baby will grow up with-wait a minute. How can you even tell what gender it is?" His laugh could be heard resounding throughout the entire Seritei. "For every evil that leaves this world, some good will enter it, and that good will always be equivalent to the evil leaving it. It would only be equal if that child were male, same as me, right? Besides, I rather doubt that it's a girl. You should know that. So … if there is something after this, I'll make sure to come back and tell you, okay?" And as he said these last words, the man who had inspired both fear and love, the man who was known as a demon, left the world for good, leaving behind one pregnant woman, a pink-haired child, two dedicated followers, and a legacy enough for a million lifetimes.

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"It's coming! This baby is coming!"

Retsu Unohana, captain of the 4th Division and married over 6 months ago, had seen and felt pain before, but never as acutely as this. She could actually feel the baby's heartbeat pounding throughout her body. Or was it her own? She couldn't really tell.

Her fukutaicho, Isane, was surprisingly cool-headed right now. "Alright, everyone, we need to give taicho some breathing space!" Her husband Jyushiro was at her side. "Don't worry, Retsu, everything will be just fine!" She sighed. Her husband was freaking out more than usual, although he was right to be worried. The baby was coming in two moths premature, and there was a good chance that it would die.

Unohana breathed slowly. "Maybe we should begin." She shut her eyes and started to push. But the pain was excruciating, and she felt as if she couldn't take it anymore. She had to stop, she couldn't keep going… "Retsu." She heard a voice. Not her husbands', not Isanes', but one she had missed for so long. "Retsu, keep going. You can do it, I know you can!" And with those words, Unohana gave one last push.

Everyone looked down at the little baby that had just been born. His breathing was shallow but… as he opened his eyes, his dark pupils flicked from person to person, eventually settling on his mother. And then the baby laughed, a delightful sound, like the tinkling of bells, infecting everyone in the room with a wide, happy smile.

Unohana took the gleeful baby into her arms and whispered, "My, you're just like your father, aren't you, little one? Not afraid of anything, and yet you're eyes betray a certain kindness and love. Yes… your name is going to be Kenpachi, because you are just like your father. And when you're older, I'm sure you'll be big and strong, just like him."

_And so, the son of Kenpachi Zaraki was born. This is his story, Yachiru's story, Unohana's story, and Kenpachi's story. It is a tale of bravery, of angst, a tale of dashing men and beautiful women, but most of all, it is a tale of how one young man managed to find life, love, and most importantly himself. His name? Kenpachi Zaraki._

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Yay! Thanks for reading this! I'm sorry that there isn't a lot of content here, but don't worry, there will be more coming soon. For now, you'll have to do with this little teaser trailer! Thanks to my friend GhoulTastic for supporting me throughout the making of this teaser, and thanks to Pie for her words of encouragement. Please review and tell me if you want to see more of this!


	2. Chapter 2

Konichiwa! This is Pi-Face once again, working on my individual project for once. This portion of the saga is set around twenty years after the last one, so our hero is likely to be entering the academy at around this age. Ready, and…GO!

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If you had seen Kenpachi and his father, you wouldn't have been able to find any two people who were more different. Jyushiro Ukitake was a cheerful happy man with a tendency to overeat and cough blood. He was also pretty skinny, with a long mane of white hair. His son, on the other hand, was almost his complete opposite. Tall and brawny, with musculature that would have made Schwarzenneger proud, he also had short, slightly spiked black hair, which had managed to survive over five hundred attempts at straightening. The biggest difference between them, however, was that unlike his father Kenpachi never stopped fighting. He just loved to fight, without understanding why.

Ukitake seemed more excited than his son. "Oh man, my son is going to enter the Academy! God, I'm so proud of you! It's only too bad your mother wasn't able to come." Kenpachi just nodded. Sometimes his father grated on his nerves, but at least there was a reason today. "Dad, please don't worry. I'm just going off to the Academy!" His dad just grinned. "Nah, I'm not worried for you. I'm worried for all the people you're gonna have to spar!" Even Kenpachi had to laugh at that one. "It's fine, dad. Okay, here I go!

As Kenpachi stepped through the doors, everybody looked at him and stared. It was pretty embarrassing for him, and he wanted to just go hide in a corner when a girl elbowed her way to the front. "Geez, what's up with these people and staring? God, it's as if my dad's here. Except it's only the women that stare at him." Kenpachi sighed with relief. "Ah, thank god someone I know is here? How are you and Kyoraku-taicho, Eri-chan?"

Eri dragged him down the corridors, leering at everyone who looked at Kenpachi. "What did I tell you? Just call my dad Kyoraku-san, I told you! But you never listen…" They stopped in front of an auditorium, where all of the first year students were to gather. Eri put her hands at her hips in a triumphant pose and laughed. "Okay, we're here! Let's get ready to see Old Man Yamamoto again!" Kenpachi put his head in his hands. "Jesus, Eri-chan, do you want to get into a fight already? I mean, it's just our first day!" Eri looked back at him with a mixture of disgust, loathing, and slight amusement. "I thought that you were Mr. Fighter? Well, whatever. We better go inside."

Yamamoto-soitaicho surveyed the students around him. Many of them seemed excited, and a few were nervous, but he was certain that they would all be eager to learn. There were a few, however, that he needed to observe, the two most prominent being Eri Kyoraku and Kenpachi Ukitake. He cleared his throat, and prepared to address the students.

"I would like to welcome all the new students here to the Academy. We have a longstanding tradition of…" Eri just yawned. Kenpachi elbowed her in the side. "Jesus, we have to stay awake!" But, he had to admit that he was feeling sleepy. In fact, he just felt like laying his head on the wall and closing his eyes just for a minute…

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Kenpachi woke up in what seemed to be a dark, isolated wasteland, filled with dead flora and fauna, slightly obscured by a dense fog. Usually people were really freaked out by scenery like this, but Kenpachi wasn't, simply because the attempts by his father to garden ended up invariably looking like this. As Kenpachi sat down, looking around for a way to get out, he heard what seemed like… well, like the ringing of bells…

Out of the mist stepped a man who, surprisingly, was taller than Kenpachi, with hair that seemed to be spiked to its' max, an eye patch covering his right eye, and those damned bells attached right to the end of the spikes. The man looked around the area for a couple of minutes, then gestured to Kenpachi. "Hey, you, kid." Kenpachi nodded. "Yeah… my name is Kenpachi. Kenpachi Ukitake. And you are?" The man thought about this for a bit, then returned the sentiment with a smile that would probably have gotten the Boogieman to say his prayers.

" Well, I'll tell ya my name, but only if ya beat me in battle… Oh, you can fight, right?" Kenpachi considered agreeing, but then figured that if he did agree to a battle, he would probably die. So he just pointed at the man's sword, saying, "Well, I can fight, but it's unfair, because you have a sword, and I don't…" He looked down at his blade. "Huh? Oh yeah. Okay, when you get your own sword and learn how to use it, I'll fight you. Until then, I won't bother you…"

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Kenpachi woke up only to see many angered faces around him, as well as a couple of amused faces, but scariest of all was his own mother staring right at him. "Kenpachi, it was very rude of you to sleep, and during orientation as well." She sighed. "Well… I can't blame you. Your father kept you up all night with his ranting and raving about the joys of the academy, so I guess I can cut you some slack now. But…" She raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that this won't happen again, hmm?" Kenpachi just nodded. There was no way that his mother would believe him. She'd probably have him thrown in the Maggot's Nest, for his own safety. Then, as all the students filed out of the auditorium, Kenpachi gave a wolfish grin and whispered, "I think I can have fun with this."

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Whoo! Yeah, I know a lot of you may be wondering why Kenpachi showed up here as a dream dude, but I guess it'll make sense later. I will not spoil this! Anyways, if you want to see more, please review! It makes me really happy!


	3. Chapter 3

Konichiwa, everyone! I'm happy that people are starting to display interest in this, so I'm gonna be updating the adventures of the second Kenpachi! Yeah! So, as per usual, please read and review this! Sorry to everyone, but I can't write fight scenes very well…I'm sorry!" And to A Dreamer's Eyes, I'll think about it…

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"No! Not like that!" The instructor had been yelling nonstop in that manner for about an hour. It had been like that for a year now. Everybody had been able to make contact with their zanpakutou, whether arguing with it or bonding closely, except, of course, for Kenpachi. He'd tried waving it around, shouting at it, begging, but nothing seemed to work. But it wasn't the constant ranting and raving of the instructors that really got to him. It was the fact that every time his mother came to visit, because his father didn't even want to be seen with him in public, she'd start to look all melancholy, emo, and depressing watching him, and frankly, that sucked.

The instructor started stomping his feet and turning red as a tomato. "Dear kami-sama! You will never amount to anything!...You know what?" Ken turned to him. "What, sen-," earning himself a boot to the head. "The only division you can ever hope to get into like this is the 11th, and that's as cannon fodder! Get your ass off to sword training!" It was times like these when Kenpachi wished that he could boot his instructors up the ass, but…. "Yes, Sensei," he muttered with a grimace.

Sword-fighting was probably the only enjoyable part of this otherwise boring place. History was dull, shunpo was nauseating, and kido was way, way too difficult. Kidoe required a lot of focus and patience, and not just for a couple of minutes: apparently it took a long, long time to master these stupid spells. Much easier to just cut an opponent in half. It was too bad for Eri though; she had ended up having a kido-based zanpakutou, which basically labeled her as a weakling. Ah well, Ken thought, at least I don't have some stupid girly zanpakuto. He took another look at it.

The whole sword was black; a straight edged katana with a wolf design on the hilt. One of the coolest swords ever… at least, in Ken's own opinion. The only ever other pure-colored zanapkutou belonged to Rukia Kuchiki, but it was a wimpy white, not a cool black like this. It managed to put Ken in a good mood, and he started to whistle while heading towards the training field.

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"No! You shouldn't keep attacking me!" screamed yet another instructor. Ken had just been hacking away at the man, barely even trying to defend himself. "You have to defend!" Ken shrugged. "What's the point? If I keep hitting you, you'll never be able to attack. Ergo, no reason for me to defend!" The instructor was about to give another sermon when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe… I should handle this one."

Everyone looked on in surprise. "Kurosaki-taicho!" He was the famed Captain of the fifth division, decorated with more honors and awards than Ken could count, and husband to the aforementioned Kuchiki. Then again, he wasn't really well known for his math skills. He looked at the man in surprise. "Umm…Kurosaki-taicho…why exactly are you here?"

The captain shook his head. "To be honest, I was just looking at some of the new talent here, and… well, oddly it seems like I've seen you before. Say… what's your name?" Ken sweatdropped. His father had dragged him to like a million captain parties, and this guy couldn't even remember his name! "Umm…I'm Ukitake Kenpachi, sir."

Kurosaki's eye twitched, and a stupid smile(or was it a grimace?) started to grace his face. "D-did you say K-kenpachi????" Ken was really, really enjoying this. "Yes. Why, you scared or something?" Kurosaki shook his head, but sweat was forming at his brow. "O-of course not!" Ken's grin was wide, and his sword was emitting a strange form of spiritual energy, quite similar to testosterone. "All right… then let's get this party started!"

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Kenpachi was slashing his way through to his opponent, and it was actually kind of… fun. The testosterone was pumping through his veins, and it was like nothing could hurt him. At least, not until Kurosaki-taicho had decided to use his Shikai. "You see, the problem with you is that you haven't bonded with your sword yet. 'Cuz of that, you're not as powerful as you think you are. Till then, don't try and do a man's job, kid…" As Zangetsu struck Ken, he started to lose conciousness, and he almost could have sworn that Kurosaki was whispering, "He really is just like that man…"

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Ken woke up to find himself in the shadow world again. "Urgh… you would have thought that in a year that guy could have, I dunno, moved somewhere decent." And then… those bells started up again. "Hey there, Mr. Grinning Maniac. Why are you so happy today?"

The man just stared at him. What was up with this guy? He only had around two expressions. "Why…nothing. Exceeeeeeeppppptttt….," and here he pulled his scary maniac face, "that battle was amazing! I mean, didn't you get pumped? I know I did. You swung left, and right, and I could feel every single movement, even you cutting into Kurosaki's skin! Hell, if that ain't enough to make anyone happy I don't know what is!"

Ken's mind didn't even struggle. The solution was pretty damn obvious, but still kinda hard for his head to wrap around. "W-wait… you're the spirit of my zanpakutou?" The man nodded. "Yep. Didn't I tell ya I wouldn't bother ya till you were able to fight? And since you were able to fight Ichigo Kurosaki, then-" Ken cut him off by frantically waving his arms. "WAIT A MINUTE! Do you mean to tell me that you're the reason that people shout at me? The reason my father doesn't visit? The reason that I've been labeled a FAILURE???" The man tried to interrupt, but it only made him angrier. "You know what? I gave you a year to show up, and now that I've been totally humiliated you decide to show your big stupid face! You… will…die!"

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Ken launched himself at the spirit, lashing out at the man in a flurry of slashes. However, surprisingly, all of his blows were easily blocked. "Eh, that all you can do?" the man taunted. Ken was too busy panting to come up with a witty retort. "What… the…hell?" The man snorted. "Knew it. You're strong, but not strong enough. You're really gonna need a major powerup."

Ken's eyes were brimming with tears. Jesus Christ, now he was acting all weepy like Kotetsu-san. But people had been stepping on him for so damn long because his father had told him to be "courteous and polite" to everybody. And now, his own zanpakutou was giving him lip! "D-dammit! I can be strong! I don't want to have to be the same fucking person!"

The man grinned. "You willing to do anything, ya wimpy asshole?" Ken got to his feet shakily. "F-fuck yeah!" The spirit poked Ken in the chest. "You fuckin' ready to fight with your all?" Ken screamed, "Yeah!" The man loomed close to Ken's face and whispered, "Then give me all the cash on you." Ken started to sweatdrop. "Umm…I don't have any-" "PSYCHE!" The man gave a big belly laugh. "Neh, I don't need any cash. I'm Akumaurufu*, but just call me Wolf. Anyways, ya ready to kick some ass Ken? Ken? Ken…"

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"Ken? Dammit! Kenpachi motherfucking Ukitake, open your eyes!" Ken opened his eyes to see a rather angry Eri, a rather relieved Kurosaki, and a whole lot of amused fellow students. "Jesus Christ Ken, I thought you were a goner for sure." Ken rubbed his eyes in awe. "Wow. The Eri-chan I know wouldn't give a shit about other people." Eri wiped a couple of tears away before slapping him lightly upside the head.

"Kurosaki-taicho, I need to ask you something…" muttered Ken. The captain looked on not with shock, but with…amusement? "Let me guess… you want to fight me, am I right?" Now Ken was the surprised one. "H-How did you-" "Believe me, this has happened too many times for me to count." Ken grinned. Finally, people were starting to take notice. "Okay, Wolf, are ya ready for this?" Ken could have sworn that he heard Wolf howling. "As ready as I'll ever be, kid! Now, I'm pretty sure you can say the word snarl, right?" Ken nodded. "Okay…. here I go." Ken raised the sword to the heavens and shouted, "Snarl, Akumaurufu!"

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Sorry everyone, but the fight shall make up most of the next chapter. Also, some KenUno in the next. Not Ken Ken, but Kenpachi the zanpakutou Ken, okay? I enjoy it when all you people leave reviews, so please do. And, well… I hope you guys enjoy!!!

*Akumaurufu... if I translated this right it means Demon Wolf. Cool name, right?


	4. Chapter 4

Heya everybody! It's Pi here , with another exciting chapter of Ascendance! I'm sorry that this hasn't been updated recently, but soon I'm gonna try and make my updates a lot more rapid!!! Please read and review. Oh: I'm a little concerned that there may be a possibility that my character is going to turn out as a Gary Stu. I would like your opinions on this matter, everyone, so I can make this story better!

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Suddenly, a large dust cloud erupted from where Ken stood, and rushed toward the crowd at a blinding speed. Now everybody walking around the courtyard took notice, and started to scramble closer, pushing and shoving to see what was going on. Then, out of the cloud walked Ken with his zanpakutou. He seemed normal, except…

His zanpakutou had grown to just about five feet, and it now resembled nothing else than the soul edge, except for the fact that it was pure jet black, the entire sword covered in kanji, and the wolf on the hilt now seemed to be, well, roaring. It was also covered in a dark, swirling energy, but Kurosaki didn't seem too concerned. "Believe me, kid, once you've seen Ogihci in action, parlor tricks just ain't gonna cut it."

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Kurosaki lunged to the right, scanning his opponent for any weaknesses, which he seriously had plenty of. First off, wrong stance. He swung towards his opponents legs, making him flip backwards in the air, an expression of grim determination on his face. But then, Kurosaki felt a small scratch on his arm, and saw that kid was starting to develop that same horrid smile. Jesus, it was freaking him out. But, now wasn't the time to get freaked out. Now was the time to get out and defeat him!

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Now the crowd was starting to jostle about, pumped as they were to see this. You could hear the clash of steel on steel as the crowd cheered, but unless you had very good hearing, you probably wouldn't have been able to hear the conversation that occurred between two of the oldest Shinigami.

"I say," muttered Yamamoto, "that is your son out there fighting Captain Kurosaki, isn't it?" Unohana nodded her head slightly. She would be the last one to admit it, but seeing her son so energetic, so proud, it made her feel happy that at least her son turned out well. But Yamamoto started probing around and making Unohana feel slightly uncomfortable. "By the way… doesn't he remind you of a certain…someone?"

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Ken slowly got to his feet and spat. Oh, Kurosaki-taicho was so going to pay for that molar. He gripped Akumaurufu, when all of a sudden the wolf spoke up and muttered, "Jeez, stop doing that, it really freaks me out." "Oops, sorry!" Ken loosened his grip on the sword and stared at the captain. It was most likely that captain Kurosaki would win: he had more experience with his sword, he had barely gotten scratched, and he only had light scratches. Wolf was urging him to keep fighting, but then again… a good warrior knew when he was beat. He smiled a little and kneeled down on the ground, leaving everyone awestruck. Suddenly, booming laughter broke out, and everyone started to freak out. It was Yamamoto-soutaicho, literally rolling all over the floor. "My," he mumbled, while standing and wiping a tear from his eye, "I never thought I'd see the day where a Kenpachi did the sensible thing and figured out how to concede in a fight. Well done. Oh, and Captain Kurosaki, " he whispered, poking his cane straight in Kurosaki's face, "if you would like to spar, I suggest that you try to fight against more experienced warriors, hmm?" Kurosaki nodded in quick reply, too stunned to notice Ken's stealthy retreat. He may have lost today, but he would find a way to win. Just… not now.

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Thanks for reading! Please review and- oh wait! There's a little more! This is just an extra, so here we go!

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Wolf was angry. As in, homicidal maniac angry. "The hell was that?" he screamed. "You just fucking gave up, kid! That was so stupid!" Ken just covered his ears with his hands, but of course that doesn't really help when people are screaming inside your head. "Seriously, what was up with tha-" And suddenly, Wolf stopped, and Ken stopped. And he started to sweat. Because his mother was there, right in front of him, and omigod her eyes were open and… what the hell?

Wolf reached out to the woman. He didn't really understand it, but… this woman, he remembered her. He remembered lying in a bed, and so many, many people crying over him. He remembered soft skin, and the scent of lilies, but as he reached to grasp her arm, he couldn't get a firm grip, and she seemed to be gliding away…

Wolf turned to see a figure in a dark green cloak staring at him. "She can't see us. We are zanpakutou, and she is… well, certainly not like us, but then again, not human either." Wolf sighed, as he continued to stare in the distance. There was another tap, softer than the last, but he didn't bother turning. The green cloaked figure sighed. "You know, I can take her a message, if you like…" Wolf's head snapped up in surprise.

"Well then, can you say… can you tell her…argh, dammit!" Wolf started to fume. "It's so hard to think of something to say! J-just… tell her…that I'll be waiting." The figure nodded and turned to leave, when Wolf's voice pierced the silence. "Say, who are ya anyways?" The figure smiled faintly before whispering. "I am just like you. You may call me… Minazuki."

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Yeah! Hope y'all liked that! I got the idea of Minazuki delivering a message while watching the new arc of the Bleach anime. Sorry for all of the weirdness, and really sorry for the late update! Next chapter will be better, I promise, because we skip ahead to Ken's graduation! Yay! And yes, I know I cannot write a decent fight scene.


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